Amides, such as urea, are key molecules in prebiotic chemistry because they possess the C-N bond, which is also found in amino acids and nucleobases. Urea has been detected in a few sources in the interstellar medium, raising questions about its synthesis. We characterized various formation mechanisms on the icy mantles of dust grains. We found that presence of icy surfaces is crucial, as they act as reactant concentrators and likely play the role of third body.

Our latest research focuses on the analysis of an unusual grazing meteor, FH1, detected by the Finnish Fireball Network in October 2022. The meteoroid, with cm-sized dimensions, exhibited an inbound hyperbolic orbit and asteroidal consistency. Our findings suggest that FH1 is more likely a perturbed Oort cloud object than an interstellar interloper, given its orbital plane’s alignment with the ecliptic and proximity to the parabolic velocity limit.

Atomic carbon gets chemisorbed with a water molecule when lands on water ice surfaces. The formed species can easily react with open-shell species, opening new synthetic paths towards forming interstellar complex organic molecules.

Thanks to their acid-bases features, silicate surfaces can efficiently activate the chemical bonds of HCN and favor the formation of nucleophilic CN- species, hence triggering the prebiotic polymerization of HCN to nucleobases in astronomical environments.

The focus is on acetaldehyde formation on the surface of a H₂O:CO dirty ice, through the reaction of CH₃ with an icy CO molecule of the surface, followed by a hydrogenation of the acetyl so formed. We suggest that this path is not the most favourable one, and gas phase synthesis is likely responsible for the majority of the acetaldehyde observed in the ISM.

Periodic quantum mechanical simulations shed light on the reactive adsorption of water on low stable surfaces of Schreibersite (Fe2NiP), which give rise to the transformation of surface phosphide in phosphite and phosphate forms.

Atomic carbon gets chemisorbed with a CO molecule when lands on water ice surfaces. The formed species can easily be hydrogenated forming ketene (H2CCO), a key species towards molecular complexity as shown in this work when reacting with open-shell species (atoms and radicals)

In early 2022, the exceptional weather conditions allowed the Spanish Meteor Network (SPMN) to study 15 dazzling fireballs streaking across the sky. This work traces these meteoroids back to their cosmic origins and determine if any of these visitors could have dropped meteorites on Earth.

The mechanisms of the energy dissipation in third body interstellar water ice have been elucidated using as reaction test case the formation of NH3 by successive H addition to N

Water formation by reaction of H2 and O on silicate surfaces as a first step towards generation of interstellar ice mantles is possible thanks to the activation of H2 due to interacting with Fe2+ ions and accelerated by quantum tunnelling effects